The things that we don't say
by xxxCattxxx
Summary: Trust is something that works both ways, but it can easily be broken. Suzie is new to Elm Tree House and has a dark secret, when she thought she could trust someone with it, that trust is broken. Please R&R, it's my first TBR story so I hope you like it!
1. Arrival

Suzie walked through the front door of Elm Tree house, her social worker not far behind her. She looked around. From where she was standing she could see a sofa and some stairs, there was also a corridor off to her right that led to the main part of the house. In front of her some grown ups were coming out of a room and walking over to her. One was a middle-aged man and another was a rather large colored lady. Following them was a young adult with dark hair. She recognized her as Tracy Beaker from the TV.

The man came forward and extended his hand. Suzie took it.

"Hello Susannah, I'm Mike." he said smiling. She smiled back and then turned to the colored lady. She smiled at Suzie also extending her hand, again Suzie took it.

"I'm Gina, why don't you come through to the office." the colored lady said gesturing her to move forward. Tracy went first and then she followed into the office. "Take a seat, Susannah."

"It's Suzie." she said, not liking her full name.

"Oh sorry dear." Gina replied smiling. Suzie sat down, and looked around. The office was quite untidy and there were files everywhere. The rest of the adults came in and sat down.

"I hope you have a good time here at Elm Tree, Suzie." Mike said.

"Yeh we all do. The kids are really nice here as well, everyone is friends with everyone." said Tracy.

"You can sort out your room later, but for now while we talk to your social worker, why don't you go through and meet the rest of the group. They will be in the living room which is just along the corridor. Just follow the noise and you will find it." said Mike. Suzie nodded and then got up and walked through the door. She was really nervous, she always got nervous when she met new people. She had never been to a care home in the 12 years of her life. She got to the opening that led to the living room and stopped.

_Do I really want to do this? _She asked herself. _Oh, get a life Suzie, I'm going to have to meet them at some point. _

She moved forward and was hit with a wave of noise and screaming kids. She stepped through the opening and the room went deadly silent. Every head turned her way. She smiled hoping that she didn't look to timid. Two girls came up to her.

"Hey I'm Carmen, you must be Susannah." said a girl with dark skin and long dark hair. She smiled back.

"I prefer Suzie." she replied. The other girl smiled then the other girl stepped forward.

"I'm Lily." she said. Again Suzie smiled at her not really knowing what to say.

From the sofa another girl stood up. She was very different from the rest of the group. She was quite tall with brown hair that had blue bits at the ends.

"Susannah! What kind of a name is that!" she smirked and stormed off past her making sure to knock into her on the way.

"That's Elektra, just ignore her, we all do. She'll come round eventually" said Carmen reassuringly, Suzie felt a little better at that. Carmen took her arm then and moved her around the room introducing her to everyone. She pointed to a girl with frizzy, brown hair.

"That's Sapphire." the girl looked up.

"Hey."

Carmen then pointed to a small boy that was sat next to Sapphire, clutching a toy giraffe.

"That's Harry." Harry looked at her with big eyes and gave Suzie a cheeky grin. The Carmen moved to a boy and a girl.

"This is Tee and her brother Johnny." she said and Tee replied.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good thanks." replied Suzie. She was swiftly moved on to two more boys that were looking at some comics.

"This is Toby and Gus. Toby likes reading comics and Gus likes... the piano." she said. Both boys looked up from reading the comic, the boy with the dark hair got up and extended his hand.

"Welcome, I am Gus."

"Hi, I'm Suzie." she replied.

"Moving on..." Said Carmen pulling her away. She moved over to the last two boys who were playing pool. "This is Liam and Frank." One of the boys came over to her and shook her hand, when he spoke it was weird and she couldn't understand much of what he said.

"Hello, I'm Frank." she smiled at him.

"He has cerebral palsy." said Carmen and Suzie nodded and then smiled at the boy, feeling sorry for him. She glanced over at the other boy, he was tall, with brown hair. He was wearing a t-shirt, jeans and a hoodie. He was looking at her and smiling. She smiled back.

_WOW! He is fit! _She thought to herself. He moved forward to her and also extended his hand.

"I'm Liam." he said with a strong accent. She shook his hand.

"I'm Suzie..." she replied. Just then she heard Gina's voice from behind her and she turned letting go of Liam's hand.

"I see you have met everyone." Suzie nodded. "Well you and Carmen are sharing a room, so you can go and get your stuff and Carmen will show you to your room.

"Yeh sure lets go." said Carmen already dragging Suzie along with her. They got Suzie's stuff and then headed up the stairs and into one of the rooms. The walls were pink and there were two beds in there. There was make up on a dresser to one side of the room and a massive wardrobe on the other. Carmen put down some of Suzie's things next to one of the beds and then went over to the other one and laid down on it. Suzie put her bags down and sat on the other bed. Carmen sat up and looked at her.

"We are going to be best friends!" she said happily. Suzie smiled at her, she was glad that she had finally made a new friend.

A while later Gina called them down for dinner. They got up and headed down stairs and into the kitchen. Everyone was already sat at the table. There were two spare chairs next to Liam. Suzie smiled and sat on the chair next to him. He looked at her for a moment and then back at everyone else. The adults brought over some plates with some pizza on it. They ate the pizza and had some ice cream for pudding and then everyone went into the living room to play before they went to bed. Carmen, Suzie and Lily sat at the table and looked through some girly magazines.

"We are going to have so much fun together, here." said Carmen.

"Yeh, and I will be round here everyday as well." said Lily. Suzie was puzzled at Lily's last sentence.

"Don't you live here too?" Suzie asked.

"No, Tracy and her mum are fostering me for now." replied Lily. "But hey, I'm still going to hang out with you guys, everyday!" Suzie and Carmen both smiled at her.

They sat in silence just reading their magazines for a while longer. Suzie looked up at one point at the pool table, only to find that Liam was looking at her. She smiled at him. She thought it was a little strange that he was looking at her but she didn't mind it. Just then Carmen looked up and looked at Liam and then at Suzie and began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Suzie asked confused. Carmen calmed down a little.

"Tell you later..." she replied and then continued to giggle. Suzie continued to read her magazine. She sensed movement and looked up to find Elektra standing over them. Lily and Carmen had both stopped reading as well. Elektra looked at them and then their magazines.

"Girly magazines, that's really childish!" she said. Carmen stood up then and folded her arms.

"Just go away Elektra! Magazines aren't childish. Just because you don't read doesn't mean that you can pick on us. What have we ever done to you!" Carmen stated. Elektra looked a little embarrassed and Suzie had to stop herself from laughing. Elektra stormed off again and Carmen sat down again.

A little while later Gina and Mike came in.

"Lily it's time for you to go home now. And the rest of you need to go to bed." Gina said and everyone started moving.

"I'll see you two tomorrow then." said Lily and she hugged Carmen and Suzie before going off. Carmen and Suzie then went to their room and got ready for bed.

Laying on her bed Suzie looked over at Carmen who was looking back at her.

"So what do you think of the Dumping Ground so far?" Carmen asked.

"The Dumping Ground?" Suzie asked puzzled.

"That's what we call it here, because it's a dump for us kids." Carmen answered.

"Oh, well, it's good so far. Everyone is nice, well apart from Elektra." Suzie replied.

"And what about Liam?" Carmen asked. Suzie could feel herself blushing.

"Um, well, um he is um well um..." she started not really knowing what to say.

"He likes you." said Carmen.

"What! He doesn't, does he?" Suzie replied.

"Yeh, he keeps looking at you and then when I introduced him to you he went all weird. He always has something to say but he didn't then." Carmen stated. "You like him, don't you!"

"Well, yeh a little I guess..." she replied, now really embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I wont tell anyone!" Carmen said and then the two of them snuggled down in their beds.

_This is going to be great! _She thought.

**Well that's chapter 1 out of the way, did you like it? I will write more if you do :)**

**xxxCattxxx**


	2. Truth or Dare

**Hey, this chapter was on standby ready to be uploaded, depending on the reaction of the previous chapter and i would say that the reaction has been pretty good so I'm uploading this one. Hope you like this one too. **

Suzie settled in really nicely into Elm Tree House. Everyone was so nice to her, well apart from Elektra. It was a few days after she had arrived and she was sat in her room looking in a mirror and brushing her elbow length auburn hair and putting on a little make up. She loved making herself look pretty and experimenting with new styles. When she was younger she used to sit in her room and just play with her hair for most of the day, she had always felt safe like that.

She finished by putting an Alice Band in her hair, it was purple with a pretty bow on it. She loved purple, it was her favorite colour. Once she had finished inspecting herself in the mirror she got up and left the room. As she walked downstairs she noticed that the house was silent. At first she thought that this was odd but then she heard the sound of laughter coming from outside and she followed it.

Everyone was outside playing a game of football. She went over and the first person to look up was Liam. He looked at her for a moment and then gestured for her to come over. She went up to him and he leaned forward and said:

"You can be on my team, if you want." She smiled at him and nodded and joined in the game. She wasn't very good at football but she gave it her best shot. She didn't score any goals but her team did win.

After the game the adults came out and set up a barbecue and put some sheets over the picnic tables. She sat with Lily, Carmen and Tee. They each had a sausage and a burger with chips. After the barbecue Lily came up to her.

"Hey Suzie, me, Carmen and Tee are going up to Tee's room to do stuff, do you want to come?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, sure." Suzie replied, eager to do something with the other girls. They all headed up to Tee's room. They all sat down on the floor by the bed in a circle. Carmen picked up a few magazines and gave one to each of them. They all started reading and doodling whilst talking to each other.

"OMG! When we were playing football, did you guys see the way that Liam was looking at Suzie?" Carmen blurted out. Suzie looked up, a little embarrassed.

"No Carmen, only you would notice that." Tee replied, giggling.

"Well, he was like staring at you like lots, it was actually quite funny." she stated, laughing.

"How exactly is that funny?" Lily asked, confused.

"Well, I mean, this is Liam we are talking about! He 'doesn't do girls' according to him. Yeah, right! He is like so all over Suzie, it's actually hilarious." Carmen replied, in between giggles.

"I am here Carmen." Suzie said, getting really embarrassed now.

"Yeah, I know. But it's not like you don't like him too." replied Carmen. Everyone stared at Suzie and she tried to hide behind the magazine.

"You like Liam?" Tee asked.

"Well, um I er..." she started but Carmen interrupted her.

"Yeh, she is like totally into him. She thinks he is like the cutest guy on the planet. She really wants to go out with him!" The other girls started laughing again and Suzie went really red in the face.

"I never said that Carmen, I just said that I liked him a little. Besides he is the one that keeps looking at me, not the other way around." she snapped.

"Ooh, sorry. But you do like him though." Carmen apologized and Suzie nodded in agreement.

"Right, lets not talk about this any more. Lets play some games. Truth or Dare is first." said Tee, getting up and going to her table. She came back with a dice. "OK, so this is how we play it. I'll start by rolling the dice. If I get a '1' then you guys have to set me a dare to do, but if I roll a '6' then I have to tell the truth. If I get a '2', '3', '4' or a '5' then nothing happens and the next person has a go, that would be you Lily and then Suzie and then Carmen. Got it?" They all nodded. Tee went first and rolled a '1'. They all sat and thought about a suitable dare for her to do. Lily thought of it.

"Tee, I dare you to, booby trap the kitchen cupboards." Tee nodded and then they all headed downstairs, to the kitchen. Tee did the dare and then Gina walked into the kitchen and opened the booby trapped cupboard and was instantly covered in flour. Gina started shouting and the girls ran up to Tee's room and quickly as they could, shutting the door behind them. They were in fits of laughter. Just then Gina walked in covered in flour and the girls kept laughing.

"Wow Gina, I like the knew look, the white hair really does suite you. What do you call this new look? The old ladies stylish range?" Carmen joked and the rest of the girls just laughed even more.

"I don't suppose you girls had anything to do with this? Well, if I find out that you did you will be in so much trouble!" Gina said angrily and then walked out, slamming the door behind her and spraying flour everywhere. They started laughing again and then calmed down and Lily had her go. She rolled a '5' and so it became Suzie's go. She prayed that she would roll a '1' and then rolled. She rolled a '6'. she didn't think that it was that bad, but then the question came. It was Carmen that asked it.

"Why were you put into care?" she asked.

"Carmen! Your not meant to ask those kind of things!" Lily snapped. It was the one question that Suzie had been dreading, but she knew it would come sooner or later. She was just glad that it wasn't Elektra who had asked it.

"Oh, um well it's complicated." she said.

"It usually is." Carmen replied. Suzie had hoped that by saying something like that then they wouldn't ask about it but Carmen kept persisting with it.

"OK,OK, OK. I'll tell you but it's not very interesting." she said and the other three leaned in closer so that they could hear her better. She didn't want to say, she didn't want to remember but she did. "When I was born, I was born with a medical condition. Its called Spina Bifida." They looked at her blankly and she explained. "Basically when I was born there was a hole in my lower back. Many people with Spina Bifida can't walk and end up in wheel chairs but I was 'lucky' I suppose. But mine effects my kidneys and bowl and bladder."

"So what, you cant go to the toilet properly?" Carmen asked.

"In a way yes, I'm not going into specifics, but yes Carmen. Any way I had my bad sewn up when I was 8 hours old."

"Didn't all your insides fall out?" Carmen asked and Tee smirked.

"The doctors wrapped me in cling film." everyone laughed. "My parents seemed really nice at first to everyone and they seemed all right with my care. But they couldn't cope, having an 'in-perfect' child, so they started neglecting me. At first they would 'forget' to give me my medicine and any of my medical procedures that I needed to do. Then after a while my parents went crazy and then...then..." she trailed off, starting to cry. Lily came over to her and put her arm around Suzie and gave her a tissue. Suzie thanked her and then continued. "They used to beat me. They hurt me because I had Spina Bifida and because I was ginger. My dad used to burn my arms with cigarettes and tell me I was useless in this world. They used to lock me in my room for days, it used to hurt a lot, not the beating, but you know not being able to do my medical stuff. I wasn't even be able to use the toilet. Then one day my mum came at me with a knife and she started screaming about how I didn't deserve to live, that only perfect people should live and she cut me, really bad. I couldn't get help. And then the next day she came back with a tray full of hot things and a jug of hot water. She burnt me with the things in the same spot where she had cut me and then poured hot water over it. I screamed but no one came, no one cared..." she was crying hard now and Lily hugged her tighter. She looked up at the others their faces were shocked. She continued. "Then one day social services came round because I had been missing too much school. That's when they found me. They arrested my parents and put them into prison and brought me into care. I lived with some foster parents for a while and then came here." she stopped everyone was silent, they were looking at her, she could see sympathy in their eyes. "They started hurting me when I was six. Social services came round two months ago." she finished and dried her eyes. Carmen gasped.

"But that means that they hurt you for six years." she said and Suzie nodded.

"Please don't tell anyone what I told you, I-I don't want anyone else to know." she asked and they all nodded in answer. "Thank you..."

**So what do you think? That's Suzie's story...**

**Spina Bifida is a real medical condition, I haven't gone into much detail about it but if you do want to find out more then look it up on the web, the NHS website is a good website and has some info about it on there.**

**Thanks,**

**xxxCattxxx**


	3. Broken Trust

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story... it means alot! :)**

**tvfan - I LOVE your idea, but i have written this so far! If you guys like this then i will continue this story and i will try and add tvfan's idea into the story :) **

* * *

It was the next day and Suzie was getting ready. Mike and Gina were going to take them all swimming. Suzie loved swimming, she loved being able to move freely and gracefully in the water and in any direction she wanted. It made her feel free and alive. She went over to her wardrobe and pulled out her bikini. It was purple with pink hearts on it. She loved it. Just then Carmen came into the room.

"Hey Suzie, you looking forward to going swimming?" she asked cheerily. Suzie nodded and began to pack her bikini in her swimming bag. "Hey, are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" replied Suzie.

"I just thought, with everything that you told us and..." she began.

"And what?" Suzie asked, puzzled.

"Well last night, you were talking in your sleep." Carmen replied. "Well, it was more like shouting, you were crying as well!"

"Oh, it was just a bad dream. No big deal." Suzie replied a little shaken from the dreams that she had had that night. She had always thought it bad to dwell on the past and forgotten things and so she didn't want to make a big deal out of a dream.

"Oh, OK, well if your sure..."

"Yes, Carmen! I'm sure!" Suzie snapped, a little more viscously than she had intended. Carmen looked really hurt and started backing away to the door. Suzie got up off of the floor where she had been sat and moved forward. "Look Carmen, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" she started.

"No!" Carmen snapped and moved out of the room shutting the door behind her. Suzie felt ashamed of herself. She didn't mean to push her friends away, but when they reminded her of what had happened to her then she turned horrid. She remembered the day that she lost her best friend.

_She walked into school, with a bruise on her face and a burn mark on her hand. She sat don in her normal seat next to her normal group of friends. When she sat down her best friend looked up._

"_What the hell happened to you?" she asked Suzie._

"_It's nothing." Suzie replied, but the girl persisted. _

"_What happened to your face?" the girl asked, moving her hand to touch the bruise that had appeared to the left of her left eye. Suzie instantly grabbed her wrist in a iron grip and she tried to struggle free._

"_I said it is nothing, Kirsty! No just leave it!" she snapped but Kirsty had seen the burn mark on her hand and her eyes widened and she stopped struggling._

"_Your wrist. What-" she started but again Suzie cut her short and stood up angrily and started moving away form Kirsty._

"_Will you just leave it, I said it was nothing. Now just get lost!" she snapped moving away more quickly._

"_Well it isn't nothing if some stupid kid is beating you up!" Kirsty replied raising her voice and standing up as well. Suzie was already most of the way across the room now._

"_WHAT THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW! You don't know anything about me or what happens to me!" she bellowed across the room at Kirsty. "So just stay out of my life! And I never want to see you or anyone else EVER AGAIN!" she finished and stormed from the room. She had never gone back to that school since._

Suzie remembered the painful memories. If only she had told someone what had been happening, she could have stopped everything and she wouldn't have driven Kirsty away. She walked across the room the a table that was next to her bed and picked up a picture of her and Kirsty. It was her most prized possession. Tears came to her eyes but she wiped them away. She really wanted Kirsty back more than anything, but she knew that some things would never happen, not even in her wildest dreams.

Mike and Gina's voice pulled her from her thoughts. They were calling her from downstairs. It was time to go swimming. She gathered up her things and headed downstairs where everyone was waiting.

"Come on, lets get into the minibus." said Gina and everyone piled out of the lobby and into the driveway where Mike was sat in the drivers seat of the minibus. They all sat down in the minibus and Suzie sat near the front, away from Carmen.

When they got there she went into the changing rooms to change. As she walked in she saw Carmen changing next to Elektra. When Carmen saw her, she scowled at her and started talking to Elektra. Suzie looked at the ground and found her own space to change.

The pool was fairly empty and she immediately went to the deep end and dived in. When she resurfaced she got the feeling like someone was watching her. She turned to see Liam watching her again. He was next to the wall at the deep end. She smiled at him and went over to him.

"You look like you are having a good time." he said as she approached.

"Yeh, I love swimming. What about you? Do you like swimming?" she asked standing next to him.

"It's all right I guess. I would have preferred to stay at the Dumping Ground though." he replied. Suzie smirked.

"Your no fun." she stated, teasingly.

"I am fun!" he retorted.

"Yeh right!" she said and to her surprise he splashed her with water. She wiped her face and then splashed him back. They got into a massive water fight and at the end they were laughing uncontrollably. "OK, I admit your fun."

"Good." he replied.

They swam for another hour or so and then got out and went home. When she got back home she put her stuff down and was going to go and find Carmen and the others but remembered that she had argued with Carmen, so instead she went to her room and laid down on her bed, thinking of the good time she 'd had with Liam. Carmen was right, she did like him a lot but she didn't know what to do about it.

She spent about an hour in her room and then decided to go downstairs and find out what the others were doing. She went downstairs and heard the other kids playing in the living room so she went there but when she walked into the room everyone went silent and was looking at her. She looked around thinking that this was slightly strange. Suddenly Elektra got up from where she was sat in front of the computer, Carmen was with her.

"So where's your wheelchair then, Susannah?" Elektra teased. Suzie realised that someone must have told her about her medical condition. She looked at Carmen and judging by her expression she knew it was her. She faced Elektra.

"It's Suzie, not Susannah." she replied calmly.

"Is that another lie? Is your name even Susannah!" Elektra asked, mockingly.

"Lie?"

"Yeh, because we looked up '_Spina Bina,'_ and it says that people who have it are in wheelchairs!"

"It's pronounced Spina _Bifida_..." Suzie stated not wanting to argue with Elektra.

"Whatever, its not like you have it anyway." Elektra retorted.

"I do, not that its any of your business. So whatever website you looked it up on must be a rubbish website." Suzie said, getting angry now.

"Your such a liar! I bet you even lied about your parents beating you! Or maybe they just beat you because your such a liar!" Elektra said. That was the final straw for Suzie. She went up to Elektra and slapped her hard across the face. Elektra stared at her coldly and rubbed her cheek.

"You cow!" Suzie screamed at her. "You stupid cow! What would you know about me, only what _she _told you." she glared at Carmen. "You have no idea what I went through or what has happened to me, so just get lost you COW!" she then turned to Carmen. "I thought I could trust you, I told you that in private! What the hell gives you the right to tell _her _anything about me! This is why I didn't want anyone to know! Your just the same as her, a good for nothing COW! Is that why your mum left you alone for a week? Huh, because you were good for nothing, I bet she even called social services herself to get them to take you away! You're a toxic stain on humanity!" she screamed, she could feel her blood pumping through her veins. Carmen's expression turned from one of happiness to hurt. Just then Gina and Mike both came rushing in.

"What the hell is going on?" they both asked at the same time, looking from Suzie, to Carmen and to Elektra. Suzie took one final look around the room and then stormed out, pushing past Gina and Mike and went up to her room.

When she got up to her room she slammed the door shut and almost threw herself on her bed. She started crying, clutching her pillow as if it was a lifeline. She couldn't believe what Carmen had done, she had trusted her and she had broken that trust. She cried and cried. Then she heard a knock at her door.

"Whoever it is, just leave me alone!" she said turning her back on the door. But then she heard the door open and close and she turned and sat up to see who it was. Liam was standing there, his eyes filled with concern. She quickly dried her eyes and turned away from him. "Go away." she said, again, stubbornly.

"No, I'm not leaving you like this." he replied and came over and sat on the bed next to her. She moved away from him a little.

"Come to laugh, or make some stupid comment, have you?" she said harshly. Liam looked hurt and she instantly regretted saying that, knowing that he had not come to hurt her feelings. "Sorry." she apologised.

"It's OK, what Elektra said was horrid. She deserved that slap." he replied moving even closer to her and putting an arm around her. She sank into his grip and snuggled up to him letting his body heat flow around her body.

"Why did she have to say it? Why?" she sobbed.

"I don't know, Elektra is mean but not that mean. Not usually anyway." he said.

"I thought I could trust Carmen, I really did think I could." she said, sobbing even more.

"I know, but Carmen is always seeking attention. She said she was angry at you anyway, because apparently you shouted at her this morning, that's why she told Elektra."

"Oh, I did have a go at her this morning. But she kept going on about stuff, stuff that I didn't want to talk about and I snapped at her. I always drive my friends away..." she trailed off.

"What do you mean?" he asked, curious.

"When I went to my last school, I met a girl called Kirsty. She became my best friend and we were friends for years but then we started arguing and one day I argued with her so much that I pushed her away." she replied.

"Must have been about something big then..." he pondered. Suzie gave in and told him.

"She had noticed the bruises... I didn't want her knowing how I got them so, I told her it was none of her business." she said. Liam looked at her sympathetically.

"Your parents used to beat you." he said, it was more of a statement than a question. She nodded.

"They couldn't cope..." she said.

"Cope with what?" he asked.

"My medical condition." she stated.

"Did they beat you bad? If you don't mind me asking." he asked. Suzie looked up at him for a moment and then she rolled up her sleeve and showed him what was underneath. His eyes widened. There was a massive scar there. The skin had been burnt several times and had also been cut with a knife.

"My mum did that to me when I was ten." she said and Liam studied it for a moment and then hugged her tighter.

"I wont let anyone hurt you." he promised. She smiled and then broke away from him. She looked into his eyes for a moment and then they did something unexpected... they kissed.

When they broke apart they just stared at each other none of them saying anything. Finally Liam couldn't take the silence any more.

"I-I think I love you..." he said quietly. She smiled warmly at him and replied.

"I think I love you too..." she said.

But the romantic moment was spoiled when Gina called them down for dinner. Suzie didn't want to go down, she didn't want to face everyone.

"I can't go down there." she said worryingly. Liam looked at her sympathetically.

"Sure you can, I'll make sure no one hurts you or says anything about you." he replied, standing up and extending his hand. She stood up and took it and he lead her downstairs.

When they got into the kitchen everyone was quiet and stared at them as they entered. Liam squeezed her hand and smiled at her.

"What's she doing here! Didn't think she would have the guts to show up!" Elektra said with venom in her voice.

"She lives here too and is allowed to eat here too, so if anyone has a problem with that then you will have me to deal with! Got it?" Liam retorted in Suzie's defense. Everyone started eating and nobody talked, fearful that they may say something that would upset someone else.

After dinner Suzie and Liam went up to Suzie's room and talked, amongst other things.

But later on the door opened and Carmen walked through. Suzie lowered her head, not wanting to look at the other girl. Liam stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Suzie asked, not wanting him to leave her alone.

"You two need to talk..." he said and left the room. She looked at Carmen coldly, the other girl looked so guilty. She almost felt sorry for her. The stayed in silence for a long time but Carmen finally spoke to her.

"I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to do what I did." she said.

"You're sorry? You're sorry that you completely ruined my life? Why did you have to do it? I told you I was sorry for shouting at you this morning, but no, you have to be the drama queen, you have to open your big gob!" Suzie said, getting angry.

"I know and I am so sorry, I understand that you don't want to be my friend again, but I just wanted to say I'm so sorry." she replied pleading.

"Look, I understand that I made you upset and I understand that you do things when you're angry. It was Elektra who said those things not you but you still told her. I trusted you with that and you broke that trust." Carmen looked at her feet, sadly. "But I guess I can't stay mad at you forever can I?" Carmen looked up hopeful, Suzie smiled at her as best she could, she wanted it to work between them but it would take a lot of patience and forgiveness, but she would do it.

"Forgiven?" Carmen asked.

"Forgiven-" Carmen rushed over to her and gave her a hug. "OK, OK, but don't give me a reason to hate you again, OK?"

"OK... by the way, what's the news with you and Liam?" she asked.

"Oh, God! OK, um, well, we er, sort of... kissed..." she said quietly.

"OMG! Really?" she asked amused. Suzie nodded cheekily, grinning. She was glad that they had sorted out their problems.

They talked for a while before going downstairs to see the others. Once again everyone was in the living room. When they entered everyone looked at them, most were smiling, glad that they weren't fighting. But Elektra was not happy. She stood up and walked over to the two girls.

"What are you doing with her?" she asked.

"She is one of my best friends and if you have a problem with that then you will have to deal with me!" Carmen replied fiercely. Just then Liam got up from where he was, playing pool with Frank and walked over to them.

"Yeh, and you will have to deal with me as well!" he said, putting an arm around Suzie. Suzie smiled, she had finally found a loving family that would stand up for her when she needed them. Elektra glared at Carmen and then walked out of the living room.

They joined in with the rest of the kids until it was time for bed. Suzie got ready for bed but she felt a little thirsty and so went downstairs to get a drink of milk. When she got into the kitchen she saw Elektra getting a drink too and automatically wished she had just gone to bed. Elektra saw her and glared at her evilly. Suzie was going to go back up to bed, but she wanted to know why this girl hated her so much. She went over to the fridge and got some milk and then got a glass out of the cupboard. As she poured out her milk she asked:

"Why do you hate me Elektra?" Elektra looked up from what she was doing and frowned, as if the question was extremely complicated.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Suzie sighed.

"Well, you have been mean to me since I got here, and I don't understand why because I don't recall ever hurting your feelings. So why?" she replied, as if explaining it to a four year old. Elektra looked guilty, she folded her arms and looked at her feet. Suzie could instantly tell that it was something big, but she didn't understand. Finally Elektra spoke, but it was quite quiet.

"When I lived with my parents, it wasn't just me." she began, but already Suzie was confused. She gave Elektra a quizzical look and so Elektra continued. "I had a sister, her name was Susannah too, and she always had it shortened to Suzie..." Suzie still didn't understand how this made Elektra so horrid. Elektra continued. "When I was put into care me and my sister were separated, social services thought it would be better or something, I don't really know. It was about six years ago when I got put into care, I haven't seen her since. Now every time I meet someone called Suzie, I get... emotional."

"You get more than _emotional_!" Suzie said, meaningfully.

"It's just who I am, I don't like being mean, but I am." she said.

"I don't see why we can't be friends, I mean I'm not your sister..." Suzie replied hopefully.

"Exactly, your not her..." Elektra mumbled. Suzie turned to go back to bed, sadly, she had hoped that she could have solved this. Just as she was about to leave the kitchen something unexpected happened.

"Suzie? I'm sorry, for what I have done..." Elektra apologized. Suzie turned and smiled at her before going up to bed.

**I hope you guys have enjoyed this. I hope it's good enough for you lot, please tell me your thoughts on it! :)**

**xxxCattxxx**


	4. Suzie's Profile

**Disclaimer: Whilst my name is not Suzie, this character is based around me a lot, including the medical condition, I do have Spina Bifida and in the same way as Suzie does. Please don't try and copy her with out my permission. Thank you xx**

**Well I thought I would just make a profile for my character Suzie so that you guys know what she is like and what she looks like.

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**

**Name: **Susannah Jane Hackney

**Age: **12 (7th April 1998)

**Gender: **Female

**Reason for being put into care: **Parents neglected her for six years, never to be put back with them.

**Previous Care Homes: **None

**Medical: **Spina Bifida

**Family: **Mrs Carol Hackney (Mother), Mr Frank Hackney (Father)

**Comments: **A very kind young girl, with not many behavioral problems.

**Appearance: **Elbow length auburn hair. She generally wears a purple Alice Band in her hair. Blue eyes. Tall and fairly slim.

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**Should I continue with this story? What you have read so far is what I intended to write but I am happy to continue writing as if it was a continuous story from Tracy Beaker Returns. If I do I would appreciate it if you guys have any ideas for some plots then can you PM me and I can write them into it! **


	5. Dates

**Hey guys, sorry it's taken so long to update, I had work experience for the last two weeks so I haven't had the time. This is a really short chapter but it's just linking the story and filling in the gaps. The next chapters will be a little longer. I think I'm going to base it on the idea that ****tvfan** **came up with, so thanks. **

**Well, I will shut up now and let you read...**

It had been two weeks since the argument between Elektra and Suzie. Everything was fine between them, they talked more. Suzie was in her room reading her favorite book, when someone came up behind her and tickled her sides. She turned around and started giggling hysterically.

"Pl-pl-please, st-stop, pl-please..." she pleaded in between gasps. Finally her attacker stopped and she faced him, with a huge smile on her face. "Liam! Don't do that, you know how much I hate being tickled!" she complained. Liam took a step closer to her, he lent forward and kissed her, placing his hand on her hip.

"That's why I do it..." he said their lips still touching and then he kissed her again. They broke apart and she smiled at him. They had been dating for two weeks now and she loved it. He was cute, sweet and funny, what every girl looked for in a guy. She knew that she had made every girl in the Dumping Ground jealous but she didn't care, she loved Liam and that's all that counted.

"Hey, I would really like to take you to dinner tonight, would you like to?" he asked.

"Do I even need to answer that!" she said grinning.

"Well, good, make sure you are ready by five..." he said, giving her one last kiss and then left the room. Suzie sat back down on her bed happily, thinking of the date.

**Please tell me if you think I should continue or not. As I said before: sorry for the short, boring chapter!**

**xxxCattxxx :) x**


	6. No Goodbye

**Sorry it's taken so long to upload, but i hope you like this chapter anyway!**

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Suzie was waiting in her room for Liam to pick her up. She had put on her best dress. It was a short, thin strapped, purple dress with a big bow at the back. She had also got Carmen to put some make up on her and Lily to do her hair. She looked in the mirror.

"Do you think I look all right?" Suzie asked worried. Twirling herself around so she could see everything on her. Carmen stepped behind her, rested her head on Suzie's left shoulder and her right hand on Suzie's other shoulder.

"You look amazing, if Liam isn't blown away by you when he sees you, then he doesn't know a beautiful women when he sees one."

"You think?" Suzie asked.

"Absolutely, I'm really happy for you and Liam, you are the perfect match. He is one of the cutest guys in the Dumping Ground and you are by far the prettiest girl, so you guys are obviously a match made in heaven."

"Yeah, I agree!" said Lily smiling at Suzie's reflection in the mirror. Suzie smiled back.

"Aww, thanks you guys." She looked over at the clock. "It's five, he should be coming any time soon." Suzie said excitedly.

They waited. And waited. And waited. Suzie was getting even more annoyed and nervous. At five forty-five she knew he wasn't coming. She ran over to her bed and threw herself onto the mattress face down, head buried into the pillow and she cried. Carmen and Lily went over to her and sat down on the bed next to her.

"Hey, look, there is going to be a good explanation for this. There has to be!" Carmen said reassuringly.

"Hmm" Lily agreed.

"Yeh, right!" Suzie snapped. Just then they heard Gina calling from downstairs.

"Dinner!" she yelled.

Carmen sighed and got up off the bed. "Come on, you are going to need tea tonight, since Liam isn't coming." she said. Lily got up to and went over to Carmen.

"She's right." she said.

"I'm not hungry." she replied sourly. Carmen and Lily both sighed and left the room to go for dinner.

* * *

Suzie stayed where she was for a while before she decided that she needed to get changed into some normal clothes. She got undressed and punt on a normal top, jeans and a hoodie. She then took off her make up and unfastened the hair clip that was holding her hair up.

_Why? _She thought, looking at her reflection in the mirror. _Why, when everything was going fine does something like this happen? _

When she was finished, she stood up and prepared herself to go downstairs, hoping that Liam would not be there. As she left her room she shut her door and walked slowly down the corridor with her hood pulled over her head, and her facing downwards, looking at her feet. As she rounded, she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned to see Elektra leaning against a wall with one foot up.

"Well, hey there little miss grumpy." she said, a sarcastic and mocking tone clearly hinting in her voice.

"What do you want, Elektra?" Suzie asked annoyed. Elektra put her foot down and took a few steps towards her.

"Well, I just saw you looking angry and thought I could help." she replied, sounding innocent.

"Oh, yeah right and what would you know!" Suzie snapped, but instantly regretted it, knowing it would only make things worse for her. Elektra grinned evilly.

"Well, for a start I know what has happened." she said.

"Oh yeah, and what happened then?" Suzie retorted.

"Liam promised you a dinner date and has stood you up, now your really sad and you don't know what to do." she replied. Suzie was a little surprised but stood her ground.

"Yeah, well, Carmen could have told you that!" Suzie snapped.

"Yes she could have, but she wouldn't have known where he was at the time he was meant to be with you. I do!" she replied, smiling.

"What! No you don't your just trying to wind me up." Suzie replied trying to reassure herself that Elektra was just messing with her.

"Actually I'm not..." she started.

"Fine, then where was he?" she shouted.

"He was with me!" she replied casually. Suzie glared at Elektra, and placed her hands on her hips.

"Liar!" she said, in a flat monotone. Elektra laughed and then pulled out her phone.

"Oh, if only I was." she said. "If only. You see me being a clever girl decided that I was going to film me and Liam, you know so I had proof. So I did, you wanna see?" she said slyly. Suzie only scowled at her. Elektra sighed and then pressed a few buttons on her phone. Suzie could hear muffled voices coming from the speaker on the phone. Then Elektra handed her the phone. Suzie took it angrily and unwillingly looked at the screen.

_Elektra was sat by her desk, looking at herself in the mirror. She was straightening her hair._

Suzie noticed her alarm clock showed today's date and five o'clock.

_A few minutes later she had finished and there was a knock at the door. She got up and walked over to her door and opened it, letting the visitor walk past her into her room. _

Suzie gasped as she realised it was Liam.

_He walked into the centre of the room and turned. Elektra was closing the door. She walked up to him and placed her arms around his neck and he placed his arms around her waist. Then they leant in until their lips met in a passionate kiss. They kissed, and kissed, and kissed. They deepened the kiss._

Suzie could tell they were using tongues.

_Elektra's hands were the first to go wandering, then Liam's followed. All the while they were still kissing._

The colour drained from Suzie's face and she started to shake. She dropped the phone, much to Elektra's disgust as she staggered back to lean against the wall for support. She felt like the her world had come crashing down on top of her. Elektra bent forward and picked up the phone.

"Oh, didn't you want to see what happened for the remaining forty five minutes?" Elektra asked mockingly. Suzie reeled back, in horror but then noticed Elektra grinning and relaxed slightly.

"Oh, don't worry yourself, we didn't do anything illegal. No, we mainly just kissed for the remaining time. He is such a good kisser." she said, in the way someone would tell a best friend how their first date went. Suzie's head was spinning, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Elektra just laughed. Suzie took one final look at her and then ran off downstairs. She was furious, _Why would he do that? _She asked herself.

She ran into the lounge to find Liam playing pool with Frank. As soon as she saw her supposed-to-be boyfriend, she felt a surge of anger run through her. She stormed over to him. He stopped playing and turned, looking guilty.

"What the HELL, Liam!" was all she could say. Liam opened his mouth to say something but was cut short by Suzie.

"No, I don't want to hear it! There is nothing you can say to make me EVER forgive you! Nothing!" she raged. "Liam, you are dumped! But don't worry got Elektra to keep you company, she'll snog you when you need it! I hope you are happy with her!" When she had finished, she ran up to her room and got out a holdall. She went over to her wardrobe and shoved all her clothes into it. Then she emptied out her drawers and put her valuables in it too. Then she put it underneath her bed. She waited until everyone was asleep before she put on her jacket, picked up her holdall and crept out of Elm Tree House, with no goodbye.


	7. Run Away

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far, I love you guys! Anyway sorry it has taken me to write the last two chapters, I have had lots of exams and I have needed to revise lots. I hope you like the chapters that will follow. This one is quite short but, it is also quite a boring one in my opinion but the next chapter will be better, I promise :) Anyway... enjoy...**

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When Carmen woke she thought it was unusually quiet. She looked around puzzled. _What is different? _She asked herself. Then she noticed that Suzie's bed was empty. She found this quite strange as Suzie was always a sucker for a lie in. Carmen got out of bed and got dressed. When she had done her make up and hair she went downstairs. Most of the residents of Elm Tree were already eating breakfast. She went and sat in her place at the table. She looked across the table to find Liam sat there, his head facing downwards over his bowl. She then looked to the seat next to her, Suzie's seat. It was empty. This was even stranger, if Suzie had got up early then she would have at least eaten breakfast with everyone else.

She ate breakfast as normal and then went into the lounge to find Tee. She was sat playing cards with her brother. She went over to them and sat down in a spare seat. They looked up from their game. Suzie smiled. Tee and Johnny exchanged glances before handing her a spare hand of cards and they continued to play their game. After about ten minutes Johnny had won. Carmen and Tee put down their cards, grumpily. They never won against Johnny. Then Carmen noticed that Suzie was still not anywhere.

"Tee, have you seen Suzie this morning?" she asked, curiously. Tee glanced at her momentarily from her new game of glaring at Johnny, and then looked back, while saying:

"No, why has she not come down yet?" Tee replied, not breaking eye contact with Johnny, who had noticed that she was glaring at him and had decided to play her at her own game.

"No, that's just it, she wasn't in her bed this morning. I thought she may have come down early, I wouldn't have blamed her if couldn't have slept after yesterdays events!" she said raising her voice slightly so that Liam, who was playing pool, could hear her. She heard a clatter behind and turned just in time to see Liam through a ball that he had in his hand and storm out of the room. She smiled inwardly, _that's the least he deserves! _She thought.

Getting bored of watching Tee and Johnny stare at each other, she decided to go and look for Suzie. She started in the garden, but she wasn't there. So she searched the entire house, but still nothing. That's when she started to worry.

She immediately went to Mike and told him that Suzie was missing, but him being an adult, he started to worry straight away and got most of the children looking for her. By lunchtime, when no one had found her, he decided to call Suzie's social worker, while all the children were eating. As soon as he entered the kitchen after making the phone call, Carmen jumped up out of her seat, but Mike told her to sit down.

"Look guys, I have rung her social worker and if she doesn't come back by tonight then we are going to get the police involved. Now, would someone please tell my why this could have happened in the first place?" Carmen, eager to make Liam look bad spoke first.

"Well, it all started when Liam _promised _to take Suzie out on a _date_! But he never showed! And then Elektra showed Suzie a video of her and Liam _kissing_ at the time that he was meant to be with Suzie, and then Suzie went mad at Liam and now she has run away!" she babbled at what seemed like one hundred miles per hour. But Mike just stood there looking very disappointed. He gave Liam a disapproving look, which just made Liam even more angry, and so he stormed out of the kitchen and back to his room. Carmen feeling satisfied with herself folded her arms leaned back on her chair smiling. Mike was speechless for a few moments and then turned to Elektra, who also strangely enough was looking fairly triumphant.

"Why can't you all just grow up!" he said and then turned and left. Carmen suddenly felt guilty instead of happiness.

Everyone got back to doing their normal daily things for the rest of the day, apart from Carmen, she just sat in her room thinking about her lost friend who was somewhere out there on her own.

At ten minutes past eight, Mike phoned the police to file a missing persons report...

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**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, review the last two chapters, I need to know what you think of them :) xxxCattxxx**


	8. Safe but definitely NOT Sound

**Sorry I haven't updated in ages but it was half term and my birthday so I haven't had that much time, plus I have had to revise fore exams.**

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The streets were dark and gloomy, the only light being the dim glow emitted from the dusty street lamps that shone over head, like watchful eyes guarding over the peaceful streets of the night. Suzie walked down an old alley way, she had been running away for two days now. She had no idea where she was going, but she didn't care.

The shadows of the night fluttered around her, like prowling predators seeking refuge in the camouflaging darkness that seemed to thrive in the far corners of the alley. She watched them as they twisted and turned in the most brilliant ways, only letting a lonely onlooker catch fleeting glimpses of their beautiful dance.

She kept walking, the cold air nipping at her fingers and the back of her neck, making the hairs stand up. She pulled the hood of her jacket up, and zipped the zip all the way up, trying to expose as little flesh as possible. She shivered, puffing out a cloud of water vapour from her quite dry mouth.

She was starting to regret running away from Elm Tree, but she knew that she could not return, not with how things had ended between her and Liam. _Liam... _the thought of his cheeky smile and his charming accent made her smile. Then she remembered what had happened, what he had done. She didn't understand why he had done it, but he had and to her that was unforgivable.

Suddenly she got the feeling of being followed. She looked behind but she only saw darkness. _Get a grip! _She told herself, although she did quicken her step a little. Then she heard footsteps behind her and this time she saw a shadow flicker across the wall beside her. She started to run, very soon all she could hear was the sound of her blood pumping in her ears. She kept running to the end of the alley way but then she noticed something, there was a silhouette of someone standing in her path. Even as she drew nearer she couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. Hope flared with in her and she quickened, her follower drawing all the more closer. But as she got near the figure there was something strange about them, but she continued, anything to stop what was happening. She came to a halt in front of them, panting, her hood had fallen down whilst running. She looked up at them. In the faint light she could tell they were not much taller than her and they were wearing a black jacket with the hood pulled up, concealing all but there eyes. Straight away she found this strange, but she didn't care.

"Please, help me, I think there is someone following m-" she never got to finish her sentence. A glint of metal, a flash of silver as the light caught on the surface of the object and then everything went black.

* * *

Liam had not slept in two days, ever since Suzie had gone. He felt really bad, he shouldn't have done what he did, but he had no choice it was to protect her. He walked glumly through the corridors of Elm Tree, his head slumped against his shoulders, his gaze concentrated on his white Nike trainers and his hands stuffed firmly in his pockets. Everyone hated him, but at the moment he couldn't care less. He just wanted Suzie back.

He was headed to his room, but as he neared he heard footsteps from within. He burst in, wondering who was in _his _room. Elektra was sat on his bed with her arms folded and a smug expression on her face. As soon as he entered she stood and went over to him and put her arms around his neck and went to kiss him, but he shoved her away. She seemed a little upset at this but he knew it wasn't real.

"That wasn't very nice, what's the matter? Don't you want to kiss me?" she said, pouting. He pushed her further away from him and sighed.

"Get out Elektra!" he said, irritated, pointing at his door. She looked at the door and then at him and folded her arms again, moving closer to him.

"I thought we talked about this last time. Come on, please just one little kiss!" she said, trying to sound lovestruck. He looked at her defiantly but stepped in closer to her and kissed her. She loved this and immediately kissed back.

* * *

Later on that day, Carmen was sitting in the lounge with Lily reading magazines. She felt guilty that she wasn't doing more to find Suzie, but she was doing all that she could. She just had to accept that she would probably never see Suzie again.

"She'll come back." Lily said, trying to reassure her.

"No she won't!" Carmen said stubbornly, scowling slamming down her magazine onto the table.

"Why do you say that?" Lily said, gently putting down her magazine and placing her hand on Carmen's arm.

"Because she ran away for a reason, that means she won't come back, while Liam or Elektra are still here!" she said, a single tear falling from her eyes. She tried to blink it away, but another tear followed it, then another, and another, until a steady flow of salty liquid ran freely down her dark cheeks. Lily got out a tissue from her pocket and gave it to Carmen who took it hastily and dried her eyes sniffing loudly.

"Hey, hey, it'll be all right. I promise you it will." Lily said, soothingly.

"I want her back! I really want her back." Carmen sobbed.

Just then the door bell rang. No one was expecting visitors and so everyone headed to the door, even Liam. When Mike opened the door a police woman stood there, in full uniform looking very grave.

"Mr Mike Milligan?" she asked.

Mike nodded, "That's me." he said.

"You notified the police about a missing person, Miss Suzie Hackney?"

He nodded again, "I did."

"We believe we have found Miss Hackney." every child standing there, looked up. Carmen rushed forward and tugged at the woman, a barrel of questions poured out of her mouth at once, most along the lines of 'Is she all right?' and 'Where is she?' and 'When can I see her?'. The police woman looked at Mike meaningfully and Mike grabbed Carmen and pulled her back slightly.

"Let me go!" she shouted, struggling.

"Wait let the woman finish." he said and gestured for her to continue.

"I'm sorry, she was rushed into A&E this morning with serious injuries. She has just come out of theatre, to have the wounds sewn up. We would like to you to identify her, considering the wounds to her head we can not use anything she says yet as evidence. We have to wait a few hours before we can question her." she said.

"Question her?" asked Lily.

"Her injuries were not accidental. Someone deliberately hurt her, and we need to find out who." she replied. Liam looked up at that point and shoved himself forward.

"We need to go, we need to get to her." he said. Anger flared in Carmen and she started forward again.

"How can you even say that! Your the damn reason she ran away, _your _the reason she is in the hospital bed. It's all _your _fault!" she shouted. Mike got in between them standing on the drive. Liam was near the minibus and Carmen was in the door frame.

"That's enough, we need to go to Suzie, you can sort this out later. You and me are going to the hospital." he said to Carmen.

"Hey, I'm coming too!" Liam shouted. Mike took one look at him and sighed.

"Fine, but don't cause any trouble." Liam nodded once and Mike, Carmen and Liam all got in the minibus and drove to the hospital.

* * *

They arrived about twenty minutes later at the hospital. Carmen looked up at the towering building shuddered, the idea of staying at somewhere like this for more than an hour scared her a lot. They walked into the main reception and went up to the desk. They waited a second for the receptionist to be ready. Carmen gazed travelled around the inner expanse of the hospital. It was painted mainly white and there were corridors everywhere, nurses, doctors and patients were everywhere. It reminded her vaguely of the local shopping centre in the middle of a Saturday sale. She turned her attention back to the receptionist who was speaking to Mike about something.

"You need to go to the children's ward, and reception there will show you to her bed." she said. Mike thanked her and then ushered the two children in the direction of one of the corridors that had a sign over it saying 'Children's Ward'. They walked in silence until they got to the ward. Once again Mike strode up to the desk and asked them about Suzie. Carmen looked around, there were quite a few rooms. In those rooms were beds, children occupied those beds. There were mainly young children, about seven or eight years old, Carmen guessed, but some were older, about Suzie's age. The thought of all these children in hospital made her feel sick, not to mention the smell of the place. Her stomach churned and suddenly lunch was the last thing on her mind. Mike's voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up at him and he motioned her to follow the nurse who was already half way down the corridor. She moved forward quickly to catch up with the nurse. They walked for about half a minute and then the nurse stopped outside a room. It was an isolated room, designed for one patient. The nurse turned to them and said:

"Wait here a second, while I go in and make sure she is all right." The nurse turned back and knocked on the door before entering, closing the door behind her. Carmen looked up at the window, that looked into the room, but the blinds were drawn. She sighed, she would just have to wait. She looked up at Mike and he smiled back at her reassuringly. Then she looked at Liam, his gaze was on the door, when he realised that someone was watching him he turned and upon meeting Carmen's gaze he looked at his feet trying not to look so upset.

A couple of minutes later the nurse walked out and motioned them into the room. Mike was the first to enter followed by Carmen and finally Liam.

As Liam entered he looked at the small hospital room. There was a window looking out of the hospital to the outside world. A T.V was placed on the wall opposite the bed Liam looked at the form that was in the bed and tears came to his eyes. Suzie was curled up, from what he could see her arm was in a bandage and her face was littered with cuts and bruises. The site made him feel sick. _How could anyone do that to her? _He thought with disgust. She rolled over in bed so that she was facing them. She smiled as she saw Carmen and the dark coloured girl ran over to her bed. Mike sat down in a chair near the bed and Carmen perched on the bed. She was glad that one her real friends was there. She looked around, when she laid her eyes on Liam, her smile turned to a frown. Liam made eye contact with her, but only for a second, and in those eyes he saw anger but he also saw something that stunned him, he saw hurt.

"What's he doing here?" she asked Carmen, her voice barely above a whisper.

"He wanted to come along, I said no, but Mike let him." Carmen replied glaring at Liam. Liam looked at his feet, words couldn't even begin to explain how he felt. He needed to do something, so he did the only thing he could think of.

"I'm sorry..." he mumbled. Suzie's face turned to surprise. Carmen suddenly stood up and faced Liam.

"Your sorry! _Your sorry! _Your sorry that you put her in hospital, that you completely ruined her life! You have no right to say that!" she shouted, she was so angry she started to shake. Liam was on the edge of tears, he had had enough.

"I _am _sorry. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't put her in that bed, I didn't beat her up!" he retorted back.

"Yeh, but you still kissed Elektra!" Carmen snapped, Liam froze, he didn't want to be reminded of it. He knew he would have to tell them what happened even though they wouldn't believe it.

"I-I didn't want to..." he muttered. Carmen looked at him strangely and Suzie looked up at him.

"What?" they both said.

"I didn't want to. She made me!" he replied.

"Oh, she made you stick your tongue down her throat did she?" Carmen said sarcastically.

"In a way, yes, look, your not going to believe me but she did force me, she told me that she would hurt Suzie if I didn't. I knew she was serious and I know how violent she can get. I thought it would be better for her to suffer from what happened than to get beaten up." he explained.

"No Liam, right now I think I would have preferred just getting beaten up. But it looks like I got the best of both worlds." Suzie said, tears starting to roll down her face. Liam wanted to go over to her and hug her, but he knew he couldn't.

"I'm so sorry..." he started but just then the door opened and the police woman from earlier came in with her notepad out. She walked over to the bed and greeted Suzie.

"Suzie Hackney?" she asked.

"Yes." she replied. The police woman still looked over at Mike for confirmation. Mike nodded.

"I'm officer Trent, can I ask you a few questions about the attack?" she asked calmly. Suzie nodded and propped herself up a little. The officer sat in another chair close to the bed. Carmen sat back down again on the bed and took Suzie's hand in her own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The officer pulled out a pen and then looked at Suzie.

"Where were you when the attack happened?"

"I'm not sure, I was definitely in an alley but I don't know where." she replied. The officer took some notes.

"Did you see your attacker's face?"

"No, I just know that there were at least two of them but it sounded like there were more. And they were girls." Again the officer took some notes.

"What do you mean 'sounded like?'"

"Well, I only heard a little bit but there were at least two voices, but there may have been more..." she explained.

"OK, and did you hear what they were saying?"

"Um no... wait I did. The only thing I remember hearing clearly was one of the girls saying: 'Lexi will be pleased about this'." Suzie replied, her tears were now streaming down her cheeks. The officer, seeing that she was in no fit state to answer any more questions, got up and, upon thanking her, left.

* * *

They left about twenty minutes after the questioning. When Liam got back to Elm Tree, he went straight up to his room, while Carmen told everyone about how Suzie was. The doctors had said that Suzie was allowed back in two days. Everyone was thrilled. Liam didn't know what he felt. When he got into his room, he flopped down onto the bed and stuffed his face into the pillow. A few minutes later Elektra walked in. She was the last person Liam wanted to see.

"Well, how is she?" she asked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Liam raised his head and looked at her, anger burning in his eyes.

"Get stuffed Elektra!" he snapped. Elektra stepped closer to him and he got up to face her, hope flashed across her face and Liam couldn't wait to wipe it off.

"That wasn't very nice." she said stepping even closer to her, so that he could feel her breath against his face. "We have had this chat many times..." she started but Liam cut her short.

"I'm not playing your game any more Elektra! It's over! You can't blackmail me any more. She knows. I told her what you did! So just get stuffed!" he said calmly. The hope and excitement evaporated form her face and was replaced by anger and jealousy. He was just about to tell her to get out of his room when it struck him. _Lexi. _He realised who 'Lexi' was.

"It's you!" he said. He remembered. When Elektra's old gang mate, Cally **(****I think that is her name****)**, had gotten out of the detention centre she had gone straight for Elektra. When Elektra had brought her to Elm Tree, Liam had over heard her calling Elektra, 'Lexi'.

"What?" Elektra asked, confusion sounding in her voice.

"You sent those people after Suzie." he accused.

"I didn't. What are you going on about?" asked, genuinely sounding puzzled.

"Suzie said, she heard one of her attackers saying: 'Lexi will be pleased about this'. The attackers meant you. The attacker was Cally." he said.

"No way, she wouldn't..." Elektra started.

"No excuses Elektra, you can't get out of this one!"

"But I didn't do anything. I told the gang what I had done with you and I told them that she had run away, but I never ever told them to hurt her. They must have done that themselves!" she pleaded. Liam was beyond caring.

"Look I don't care about what you have to say Elektra. I'm going to tell Mike about Cally and if the police find that you had something to do with it then they will send you down too. As far as I'm concerned you can go down for the rest of your life, I don't care about you! Now get out of my room, before I do something I will regret!" he snapped back, angry. Elektra took one more look at him and then fled the room, leaving Liam alone with his thoughts.

**Hope you guys liked this chapter, it took me ages to write so I hope it was worth it. Please review it. **

**xxxCattxxx**


	9. Happily Ever After?

**Sorry it has taken me so long to update, but I have been on holiday to Florida for a few weeks and I have not found the time to write but hopefully you will like this.**

**Also i would like to apologize because 'chelseacehall' left a review and i accidentally deleted it because i was trying to delete another offensive review. I AM SO SORRY!**

**(Can who ever is reviewing my story and putting ABUSIVE comments please stop it, because I will keep deleting your reviews, I don't want to have to stop anonymous reviews from being submitted but I will if you don't stop!) Thank you to everyone else who has reviewed my story, I really do appreciate it :)  
**

It was two days later when Suzie was allowed back to Elm Tree House. She walked through the front door into a house full of silent children. Each one was staring intently at her. Suddenly she felt a hundred times smaller. She wished they would all stop looking at her. She looked around as she moved towards the office. She saw Carmen and smiled at her. Carmen smiled back and stepped forward, putting her arm around Suzie's shoulders. She looked around again and then she saw Liam, near the back of the group. He looked at her with kind soft eyes and for a moment she returned the look but then she remembered what had happened and she looked away. She instantly felt guilty, she realised now that it may have not been entirely his fault, but he needed to be taught a lesson. She looked over at him once more before she headed into the office. He looked like he was about to cry. She turned back and walked into Mike's office.

* * *

After she had talked with Mike and Gina, Carmen helped Suzie carry her few things up to their room. Suzie sat down on the bed and stared silently at nothing. Carmen walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"What's wrong?" Carmen asked.

"Everything..." Suzie replied sadly.

"Everything?" Carmen questioned. "Not everything can be wrong, there has to be something that is right."

"Really? I'm back here, the best relationship I ever had is in tatters and some psychotic people beat the crap out of me. So yeah I would say everything is wrong!" she snapped and then looked at Carmen and instantly regretted saying it. "Sorry, I just wish things were better."

"Things will get better, I mean you're with me so they have to be getting a little better..." Carmen said jokingly. Suzie smiled, she was glad that someone was happy.

"Thanks Carmen, you're the best."

Just then there was a knock at the door. Carmen stood up and walked over to the door, opening it slowly.

"What the hell do you want?" she asked whoever was there. Suzie didn't need to look at the door to know who was standing there. There was a shuffling of feet and the sound of the door being shut. When Suzie turned around, Liam was standing in the middle of the room, his head lowered looking at his feet. She stood up and moved a little closer to him.

"He said he had something to say to you, something important. It's probably just some more lame excuses and a plea to get back together with you." Carmen sneered.

"No, it's not. I have got something important to say though. After I visited you in the hospital, I came back here. But then Elektra came into my room and started being all nice with me. But I told her to get lost and I told her that you knew what had happened.-" he started.

"Why would we want to know that. If you haven't noticed _we _don't care what you and Elektra get up to!" Carmen snapped. Suzie wished for once that Carmen would shut up.

"I'm not finished! I was just about to tell her to get out of my room when I remembered something." He turned to Carmen. "Do you remember when Cally came to Elm Tree with Elektra?"

"Yes!" Carmen replied bluntly.

"Do you remember what name Cally used to call Elektra?" he asked.

"She called Elektra, 'Lexi'." Carmen said. Suzie head instantly snapped up at the mention of the name. She knew what Liam was getting at.

"You're saying that Elektra had something to do with what happened to me, aren't you?" Suzie asked.

"Yeh, but when I asked Elektra about it, she said she had no idea what I was talking about."

"Naturally, she isn't going to admit that she had anything to do with it."

"She really did sound genuine about not knowing anything. She told her friends about what had happened between us three and so they must have taken it into their own hands."

"Have you told Mike or Gina?" Suzie asked.

"I was going to, but then I thought you should know first and that it should be your decision to tell Mike." he replied. He turned to go. "I'll leave you to tell Mike, in your own time."

Suzie was going to let him but then she changed her mind. "Wait." she called to him. "I think you should come with us, you worked it out after all and they are going to need to know about everything." she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Suzie nodded and then all of them went to the office to tell Mike.

* * *

After they had told the grown ups everything they headed out of the office, feeling like a great weight had been lifter off of their chests. But Suzie still felt like she had still got a massive weight on her chest that she needed to sort out. When they got into the hallway, they all stopped. She looked at Liam and she knew what she had to do. She turned to Carmen and asked her nicely:

"Can you give us a few minutes alone, please?" Carmen nodded and went upstairs.

Suzie turned back to Liam, who was once again looking at his feet. She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up instantly. She looked into his eyes and spoke from her heart.

"Liam, I still love you..." Liam's face instantly filled with hope and happiness. He smiled at her and Suzie returned the smile.

"I love you too." he replied, and Suzie knew that he meant it.

"Look, I understand now that you only did what you did with Elektra to protect me, but it still ended up the same way. And despite what Carmen says, I would love for us to try again. Are you interested?" she asked.

"Yes of course, but what about Elektra? What if she tries to interfere again?" he replied.

"Stuff her!" Suzie said and they both laughed. When they stopped there was an awkward silence in the air. Suddenly Liam did something unexpected, he leant in closer and kissed her. She returned the kiss, feeling once again like she belonged there.

When they broke apart they were both smiling. Liam extended his hand and she grasped it, intertwining their fingers tightly. Together they walked upstairs to tell everyone the good news...

**I am not planning on this being the end of Suzie's story. As I said earlier, I have been away to Florida and I was thinking of writing a story about her and the rest of the Dumping Ground going on holiday to Florida...**

**Please review :)**

**xxxCattxxx**


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